Why Justices Should Rule on FAA’s Commerce Exception, Law360

Collin Williams, Chairman and Co-Founder of New Era ADR, authored an article for Law360 that evaluates the March 2024 opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Adan Ortiz v. Randstad Inhouse Services LLC and Adan Ortiz v. XPO Logistics Inc. The case, which will make its way through the appeals process and possibly to the U.S. Supreme Court, has the potential to clarify an age-old question about whether workers involved in foreign or interstate commerce are exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act

After analyzing the case, Collin concludes, “It's not uncommon for the circuit courts to disagree on the application of the law to the facts of a case. But given the high profile of the FAA, the desire some employees have to litigate employment issues in court, and the strong interest many employers have in enforcing arbitration agreements, clearly defining the exception seems particularly ripe for adjudication by the Supreme Court.”

Read Collin’s article in Law360 here.